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Oldest ‘animal’ fossil ever

National Geographic reported this week on the discovery, in Namibia, of the oldest fossils yet found of a multicellular animal.

At 760 million years old, Otavia antiqua is described as a sponge-like multicellular organism about the size of a grain of rice. These organisms were incredibly hardy, remaining relatively unchanged for 200 million years, and surviving at least two ‘Snowball Earth‘ events.

The previous oldest organism was also a sponge, and had been dated to 650 million years.

These organisms represent the earliest ancestors of all the multicellular organisms which have arisen since, from Dinosaurs to Humans.